WOTLK Wrath of the Lich King Cinematic Trailer (VIDEO) link We all know that World of Warcraft''s Wrath of the Lich King expansion is coming with some killer stuff, and that includes the game's brand new Achievement system. What we don't know yet is what happened behind the scenes and how it all came to be. Fortunately, lead game designer Jeffrey Kaplan had a conversation with MTV Multiplayer recently and told us all a little something about it as the WOTLK cinematic trailer video hit the internet. Kaplan says that originally, the people over at Blizzard didn't want to call the Wrath of the Lich King system Achievements because Xbox 360 and Steam were already using the name. They came up with all sorts of alternatives like Goals, Accomplishments, and other titles, but at the end of it all, it came back down to Achievements. “We sort of came around to the conclusion that all players call them Achievements," He added. That realization made them settle on the name finally, leading to the release of the WOTLK Cinematic trailer today. Next was brainstorming on how to go about it. Kaplan recounts that the core concept of designing their WOTLK Achievements was “we wanted to focus on getting the user interface in a good presentable form and things that other Achievement systems haven’t done a good job of...”

Laura Wilkinson Olympic Diving Results (video) link Attempting to avoid a second straight shutout in the diving medals for the United States, Laura Wilkinson was fifth after completing the second-best dive of the opening round. Wilkinson won this event in Sydney and the Americans have not won a medal in diving since. The 30-year-old plans to retire after these games. Chantelle Newbery, the Australian who won this event at the 2004 Athens Games, did not qualify this year. Teenage divers Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin led the standings in preliminaries for the 10-meter platform at the Water Cube on Wednesday in the one diving event China did not win at the previous two Olympics. China has already won the opening six diving events of these games, and is going for a clean sweep of all eight golds. Chen received two perfect 10s on his final dive, a back 2 1/2 somersault with 1 1/2 twists, executing slightly better than Wang, who closed with the same dive. Chen led with 428.80 points, Wang was second with 420.30 and Emilie Heymans of Canada qualified third with 403.85 before a near capacity crowd at the Water Cube. The top 18 finishers, including Laura Wilkinson, qualified for Thursday's semifinals.

Edge vs. Undertaker WWE Summerslam 2008 (VIDEO) link Undertaker beat Edge in a Hell in a Cell match in 26:45. During Edge's ring entrance, Ross said Edge is going to Hell tonight. "Judging from the look in his eyes, he's going to enjoy the trip," said Ross. Nice. Tazz looked at the structure and said he'd never want to be in a Hell in a Cell match. They also pointed out that Edge is 7-0 in singles matches at SummerSlam. Edge flashed the crazy eyes, smiled, and licked his lips in Heath Ledger's version of the Joker style while waiting for Undertaker's entrance. Standard Undertaker entrance. No druids with torches for his latest return. Ross said Taker "is the yard stick by which every WWE superstar past and present is measured." Nice. Edge continued to smile even as Taker removed his hat and glared at him from just inside the cage door. Taker reached back and closed the cage door behind him. Charles Robinson locked the cage door shut. Tazz observed that Edge doesn't seem to be intimidated... ...Taker placed Edge on a chair and performed his own version of the Conchairto. Taker scooped up Edge and delivered the Tombstone piledriver for the win. Afterward, a shot aired of Vickie and her crew clapping for the finish backstage. Taker walked onto the stage and stopped when he saw the "Edge vs. Undertaker" listing on the stage set. He glared at it and then headed back to the ring. Taker picked up Edge and placed him onto a ladder that was standing in the corner of the ring. Edge didn't move while Taker went to ringside and grabbed a slightly taller ladder. Taker positioned the ladder next to Edge's ladder, looked at him, and said, "Now we're going to hell." Taker stood with a foot on each ladder and performed a soft looking chokeslam that sent Edge flying through the canvas and apparently into hell. In a cool move, Taker knelt in one corner and suddenly flames began shooting out of the hole Edge left in the ring. "Undertaker sent Edge straight to hell," Ross enthusiastically said to close the show...

John Cena vs. Batista, Summerslam 2008 (video) link Batista pinned John Cena in 13:45. The usual mix of boos and cheers for Cena. Plenty of high-pitched squeals and baritone boos. No big staredown to start the match. The first notable moment of the match came at 3:15 when Batista locked in the Figure Four. "He might have to tap out here," Lawler said on commentary. Cena rolled into the ropes to break the hold. Moments later, Cena FU'd Batista over the top rope to ringside. "He is scary strong," Cole said. Cena sold a knee injury. He looked to the crowd and received more boos than cheers. He did the "You can't see me," and hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena failed to hit the FU. Batista came back moments later with a boot to the face. At 7:30, Cena locked in the STFU. About 90 seconds later, Batista reached the ropes to break the hold. Batista began selling a knee injury of his own. Cena went for the FU again, but Batista turned it into a rear naked choke. The live WWE Summerslam 2008 crowd didn't pop much for the move and Batista showed a lot of light by moving his arms. Cena elbowed Batista's bad leg until he broke free. Batista speared Cena for a nearfall. A short time later, Cena reversed Batista's slam attempt and turned into the FU. Cool move. It took some time for Cena to roll over and cover Batista, who kicked out to a big pop. Cena sold it well with a look of surprise that Batista kicked out of his finisher.

Cloris Leachman Roasting Bob Saget link Cloris Leachman spares Bob Saget little dignity in her feisty appearance at his Comedy Central roast. In a video snippet of the taped event, set to air Sunday night, the award-winning actress snipes, "Can't believe I shaved for this. I mean, what am I even doing here? Who cares about Bob Saget?" Low blow. But Saget laps it up, laughing large at the award-winning actress's routine. When asked why the cable channel singled him out to be roasted, he says with mock humility, "I don't know. You know, I guess a few other people turned it down. It's always how I look at it."

Rebecca Soni 100 Meter Breaststroke, Beijing Olympics (video) link Rebecca Soni won the Olympic lottery Tuesday night. In an event in which she didn't qualify for the Summer Games, an event that broke her heart at the Swim Trials in Omaha, Neb., where she finished fourth, in an event in which she wasn't expected to medal, the 21-year-old Plainsboro native captured a silver medal, her first Olympic medal. Moments after Michael Phelps accepted his third gold medal of the Olympiad for a world-record performance in the 200-meter freestyle, Soni, swimming in lane 5, finished second to the world's best, Leisel Jones of Australia, in the 100-meter breaststroke at the National Aquatics Center. Fifth midway through the race, Soni closed strongly to finish in 1:06.73. Jones swam in 1:05.17, an Olympic record, and Mirna Jukic of Austria took the bronze medal in 1:07.34. "I don't even know how I feel yet," Soni said. "It's still registering. Who could ask for more? It's pretty incredible. I wasn't ready to swim this event a few days ago, so to get in was nice, but then to win a medal is incredible." In effect, Soni was playing with house money in this event. She did not qualify for this swim at the Olympic Trials, but, as a member of the team for the 200-meter breaststroke, she was placed in the 100-meter swim when Jessica Hardy, the top U.S. qualifier, tested positive for clenbuterol, a banned anabolic agent, and withdrew from the Games. Hardy faces a two-year ban for the violation...

Jonathan Horton High Bar Routine 2008 Olympics (video) link The three-time defending men's gymnastics took back the Olympic gold medal it had lost with a disastrous fifth-place finish in Athens by dominating the still rings and vault and and topping silver-medalist Japan. The U.S. was in second place going into their final rotation, the pommel horse, the apparatus that has been a nemesis. After Kevin Tan sat on the horse and received a 12.775, Raj Bhavsar did such a basic routine he only scored 13.750. But Alexander Artemev finished with a rousing swing, scored 15.350 and helped the U.S.hang on for an unexpected bronze medal. On the very first routine of Tuesday morning, Chen Yibing, 23, an Olympic rookie, finished his final floor pass by staggering out of bounds and slapping his hands to his head. His score of 14.575 brought a collective groan at the National Indoor Stadium. The Chinese men were heavy favorites to defend the team gold medal they had won in Sydney in 2000 but instead had a series of major falls in the team finals and were a dispirited fifth place. Japan won the team gold and the United States, led by Paul and Morgan Hamm, won the silver medal. The word "choke" was used about China. After Chen's inauspicious start, though, Yang Wei and another youngster, 20-year-old Zou Kai, powered through their floor tumbling with tightly-wound somersaults and flips to knock away bad memories. Yang had a solid 15.425 and Zou an excellent 15.925 and as Japan's Takuya stumbled badly to lead off on floor for Japan, it seemed a Chinese rout might be on. This Chinese team is filled with veterans. Leader Yang, 28, is a three-time Olympian who won team gold and individual all-around silver in 2000; Xiao Qin, and Li Xiaopeng (who won team gold and individual gold on parallel bars in 2000 and a parallel bronze in 2004); all have Olympic experience. After its Olympic disappointment in 2004 the Chinese men have won the past three world championships and led the qualifying round here by almost five points over defending gold-medalist Japan. The United States came into the Olympics with lowered expectations after both Hamm brothers withdrew within 10 days of each other with injuries. They were thrilled to qualify sixth and within about one and a half points of third-placed qualifier Russia. The American started on still rings where Raj Bhavsar, who had been the replacement for Paul Hamm, did a steady turn and scored 15.325, exactly what he did in team qualifications. But the judges took nearly five minutes reviewing video of his routine while Jonathan Horton had to wait to go up while he hopped back and forth from foot to foot. Horton still executed well and hit a solid landing but Kevin Tan, who has been doing routines worth nearly 17 points all year, was given a 15.425 after another long review of his routine by the judges. Long reviews weren't happening only to the Americans. It is a new system at this Olympics where judges have video screens and can review every element of every event. China's Huang Xu had to wait about seven minutes before his pommel horse score of 14.750 was posted and the Chinese fans booed loudly. It was on the third rotation for China, the still rings that the team began to pull well ahead. Huang, Yang and Chen Yibing all scored over 16.000 and the arena erupted. Chinese flags waved and even for those who don't speak Mandarin the chant was clear. "Let's go…China…Let's go…China." Chen's was the final score of 16.575 was posted and the team high-fived and acknowledged the crowd. The rest of the competition would be used for sorting out the other medals. The American fans began tentatively making themselves heard with a "USA, USA chant" after both Bhavsar (15.575) and Jonathan Horton (15.625) knocked out solid parallel bar routines. When Justin Spring finished off the set for the U.S. with a 15.850 the U.S. actually led the competition though it wouldn't last. China took the lead after vault. Those "USA" cheers got even louder when Joey Hagerty, Horton and Justin Spring flew through the high bar without a fall. Both Horton and Spring, who do high-risk moves, had taken big falls during Olympic qualifying competitions but when Spring held his landing the men jumped into each others' arms. Assistant coach Miles Avery swung Spring around.

Madden 09 Player Ratings link EA Sports is celebrating two decades of video game football with the release of "Madden NFL 09: 20th Anniversary Special Collector's Edition," which includes full versions of the new "Madden" game, as well as the new "NFL Head Coach 09" strategy game and bonus video content, and everyone is waiting for the moment when they can see the new Madden 09 player ratings. "The launch of this Madden 09 is of a magnitude that only the Rose Bowl can accommodate," said Peter Moore, president of EA Sports. "Maddenpalooza, a games and music festival, will take place on August 11th in Pasadena, and approximately 10,000 fans are expected at the stadium to get their hands on the game, see the new player ratings and hear bands like Good Charlotte play." The "Madden" franchise has been the number one selling sports franchise in North America for six years. Since its inception, Electronic Arts has sold over 70 million units of the game worldwide. This year's version has more than 85 new features, the most ever for the franchise in one year. "It seems like every year Madden gets more and more realistic," said Miami Dolphin Jake Long. "When I watch someone playing 'Madden,' it's like I'm watching a real NFL game. The guys look so realistic and the features keep getting better." The player ratings for Madden 09 promise to be full of surprises..